Turkish jets kill scores of Syrian Kurdish militants

This file photo dated Nov. 19, 2014 shows a member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) taking position behind a barricade in Kobani, Syria. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey says its warplanes have carried out more than two dozen airstrikes against Kurdish positions in northern Syria, killing scores of militants.

Jets carried out 26 airstrikes against YPG targets, killing 160 to 200 militants, the Turkish army said in a statement on Thursday.

The army said its jets hit militant targets in the villages of al-Hasiya, Um al-Qura and Um Hosh and destroyed nine buildings, one armored vehicle and four other vehicles that belonged to the Kurdish militia.

YPG forces had recently captured the areas from Daesh militants. Attacks on YPG positions have been an ongoing source of contention between the United States and Turkey.

The US says it supports YPG and considers the militia group to be an effective force against Daesh Takfiris in Syria. Ankara says the YPG is an extension of its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which it considers a terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo by AFP)

Ankara won’t "wait for terrorists to come and attack" Turkey, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the airstrikes.

In August, Turkey sent troops and tanks into northern Syria without Damascus' consent purportedly to help drive out Daesh and Kurdish militants from the border area.

Ankara, which is an open backer of militants fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, is helping the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants take territory near the border.

The FSA and its affiliated groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam, as well as more than a dozen other militant groups are fighting the government in Damascus since 2011.